Street-car stop.



B. MAODONALD & W. THOMAS STREET OAR STOP. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1911.

Patnted Feb. 2?, 1912.

1 BEN JAMIN MACDGH ALD AND WILLIAM THOMAS, OF YATESVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

STREET-QAR STOP.

oiasaa Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented rep. at, ism.

Application filed November 4, 1911. Serial No. 658,516.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, BENJAMIN MAO- DoNALn and l/VILLIAM THOMAS, citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Yatesville, county of Luzerne, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Car Stops, of which the following is a full and clear specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car, with one of the wheels broken away and the axle in section, showing our invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 a vertical. section taken through the platform of the car, showing the gravity stop raised, and Fig. 3 a perspective view of the gravity stop and the means for holding it up out of the way.

The object of this invention is to provide the car with a simple attachment at each end thereof whereby should the brakes fail to work while the car is on a grade, the mot-orman may bring into operation a stopping device which shall engage the road bed and thus positively stop the car against running down the inclined track, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

Our device is preferably duplicated at each end of the car and it consists of a bar a piv-.

otally clasped to the front axle and another similar bar connected in a similar manner to the rear axle, one of these bars being pointed rearwardly and the other forwardly and the end of each barbeing bifurcated and separated to form a prong which is adapted to engage into the road bed, the pronged ends being curved downwardly.

When the bar a is not in actionit is held up in a horizontal position by two chains 6 and 0 'dependingfrom the car, both these chains being arranged to run over suitable pulleys d and 6 carried by the platform of the car and thence extended upwardly to a suitable drum or pulley f, capable of easy manipulation by the neotorman and being locked against'rotation by a suitable lever and ratchet device 9.

The depending end of the chain c is attached directly to the bar a by means of an eye h while the depending end of the chain 2) is attached to one end 01": a short lever i, the other end of this lever i being pivotally attached to a rigid hanger j depending from the car. The lever 2' lies under the bar a and forms a downwardly swinging support for the same.

Itwill be observed that the operator by releasing the drum 1 may permit the stop bar to drop to the road bed. The motorman or conductor will of course release whichever one of the stop bars happens to be at the lower end of'the car, so that the movement of the car down the incline will cause the stop bar to dig into the road bed and positively engage the ties therein, thus positively and quickly stopping the car before it attains a dangerous speed. By pulling up on both chains by means of the drum to its elevated position. In thus pulling up .the bar, theechain 0 acts directly on the bar while the chain 6 acts through the medium of the lever i, which lever was allowed to swing downwardly to a vertical position when the chains were released to drop the ar. The idea in using two chains is to provide'against accidental dropping of the stop bar by the breaking of one chain. Should one of the chains break the other will hold the bar up, while the broken chain will drop to the road bed and drag therealong and thuswarn the car crew. This safety precaution is highly desirable in view of the fact that should one of these-stop bars drop while the car was going at a high speed the shock would derail and Wreckthe car;

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- In combination with a railway vehicle, a

stopbar pivoted to an axle thereof, said stop bar being shaped at its free end to engage into the road bed when allowed to gravitate thereto, means for raising and lowering said bar embodying two independent chains depending from the car body, one of said chains being connected direct to the bar, means for simultaneously raising and lowering said chains, a liftin lever pivoted at one side of the bar and a apted to swing up thereunder and engagethe bottom of the our signatures in the presence of two witbar, the free end of this lever beina'attached nesses this 2nd day of November 1911.

to the other chain, whereby both chains will BENJAMIN MACDONALD. operate to raise and lower the bar but one WILLIAM THOMAS.

5 will operate directly on thebar and the other W'itnes'ses:

indirectly through the medium of said lever. BENJ. A. CRow rHnR,

In testimony whereof we hereunto aiiix LEWIS SMITH. 

